Re: The Rest In Peace & Remembrance Thread
Got three more for tonight:
Actor Glenn Ford Dies at 90
Aug 30, 10:54 PM (ET)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Actor Glenn Ford, who played strong, thoughtful protagonists in films such as "The Blackboard Jungle,""Gilda" and "The Big Heat," died Wednesday, police said. He was 90.
Paramedics called to Ford's home just before 4 p.m. found Ford dead, police Sgt. Terry Nutall said, reading a prepared statement. "They do not suspect foul play," he said.
Ford suffered a series of strokes in the 1990s.
Failing health forced him to skip a 90th birthday tribute on May 1 at Hollywood's historic Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. But he did send greetings via videotape, adding, "I wish I were up and around, but I'm doing the best that I can.... There's so much I have to be grateful for."
At the event, Shirley Jones, who co-starred with him in the comedy "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," called Ford "one of the cornerstones of our industry, and there aren't many left."
Ford appeared in scores of films during his 53-year Hollywood career. The Film Encyclopedia, a reference book, lists 85 films from 1939 to 1991.
He was cast usually as the handsome tough, but his acting talents ranged from romance to comedy. His more famous credits include "Superman,""Gilda,""The Sheepman,""The Gazebo,""Pocketful of Miracles" and "Don't Go Near the Water."
`Psycho' Scriptwriter Stefano Dies at 84
Aug 30, 5:28 PM (ET)
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) - Joseph Stefano, who wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and was co-creator of television's science fiction anthology series "The Outer Limits," has died. He was 84.
Stefano died Aug. 25 at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, funeral director Elaine Munoz said. The cause of death wasn't disclosed.
Stefano graduated in 1940 from South Philadelphia High School and he went to New York as an aspiring entertainer. He played piano, sang, danced and wrote music and lyrics.
He toured with a modern dance troupe and worked temporary jobs as a typist. He met his future bride, Marilyn Epstein, in a bar in Manhattan in 1953.
"I was trying to make a choice on the jukebox and this great-looking man in black jacket, jeans and boots said, 'Play that one, I wrote it,'" she told The Philadelphia Inquirer. They soon married.
Stefano's big TV break came in the 1950s when he was hired as a writer for the "Ted Mack Family Hour." He also wrote a number of scripts, including "The Black Orchid," which was made into a 1958 movie starring Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn.
Stefano then became a scriptwriter for 20th Century Fox in 1960, and he moved to Hollywood. Hitchcock soon had him adapt a Robert Bloch pulp novel for the screen. The movie became "Psycho."
"Bloch's novel started with Marion Crane arriving at the motel and immediately being killed. My feeling was that, since I did not know anything about this girl, I wasn't going to care about her when she was killed. So we backed the story up a bit and learned something about her so that when she was killed, it would have more impact," Stefano once told the Los Angeles Times.
Stefano had her stealing $40,000 from her boss and stopping at the Bates Motel while on the run. Though she has a change of conscience about the money, Crane is knifed to death in a memorable shower sequence.
He wrote several other screenplays, including "The Naked Edge" with Gary Cooper, but Stefano and screenwriter Leslie Stevens turned to TV to produce and write "The Outer Limits," which ran from 1963 to '65.
Stefano later wrote the 1969 thriller "Eye of the Cat" and co-wrote the comedy "Futz!" that same year with Rochelle Owens.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote TV movies, including "Home for the Holidays" in 1972 and "Snowbeast " in 1977.
Besides his wife, Stefano is survived by his son Dominic. The funeral was private.
Rockabilly Singer Gene Simmons (not from KISS) Dies at 69
Aug 30, 6:07 PM (ET)
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - Rockabilly singer and songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons, who worked with Elvis Presley and had a top 20 hit in 1964 with the bouncy "Haunted House," has died. He was 69.
He died Tuesday at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo after a long illness, according to Holland-Harris Funeral Directors.
Simmons - not to be confused with the Kiss bassist with the same name - was in show business for more than 50 years, working with such names as Sam Phillips and the Bill Black Combo. More recently, he co-wrote "Indian Outlaw," which became a big hit in 1994 for country superstar Tim McGraw.
But his biggest success came in 1964 with the novelty song "Haunted House," which reached No. 11 on the Billboard pop chart and launched Simmons on a world tour.
Among other early gigs, he performed as an opening act for Presley in Tupelo, Presley's birthplace and Simmons' longtime hometown, as Presley's career was taking off, said his son, Cary Simmons.
After appearing in some Memphis clubs, Simmons signed with Sun Records, the legendary Memphis label formed by Phillips that launched the careers of Presley, Johnny Cash and other stars.
While he didn't have the chart success of other Sun performers, Simmons' recordings have become known to later generations through reissues. Brian Setzer did a version of Simmons'"Peroxide Blonde in a Hopped Up Model Ford" on his "Rockabilly Riot Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records."
Simmons, born in Itawamba County in 1937, spent most of his life in Northeast Mississippi although he lived for a time in Memphis. Besides his son, survivors include his mother, a sister, and two brothers.
